Update: Air strike kills 44 in Syria's rebel-held Idlib 

At least 44 people were killed on Tuesday in air strikes against areas in the rebel-held province of Idlib in northwestern Syria, a monitor group reported.

The strikes targeted areas in the towns of Kafr-Nubbol and Ma'arat al-Numan in Idlib countryside, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based watchdog group said woman and children were among those killed, while tens of others were wounded.

The death toll could likely rise due to the large number of critically wounded crowds and those still stuck under the rubble, it added.

The air raids came apparently in response to the wide-scale offensive by the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front on key government-controlled areas in the countryside of the coastal city of Latakia and the central province of Hama.

A Syrian military source told Xinhua on Tuesday that the military forces managed to repel the attacks, scoring more progress against the al-Qaida-linked groups in the countryside of Latakia.

The escalation on ground reflects the tensions among the Syrian delegates to the Geneva peace talks on Syria crisis.

The opposition representatives in Geneva talks are calling for suspending the talks, citing the lack of progress.

A day earlier, several jihadi groups announced a broad offensive against the government positions in Latakia and Hama, following the call by the head of the opposition delegation to Geneva, Muhammad Alloush, who urged the rebels to strike the government forces in Syria, in what he called as the breaches of a cease-fire by the government forces.

A U.S.-Russia sponsored truce went into effect in Syria last February, bringing a pause of fighting to many hotspots nationwide.

However, sporadic breaches were reported by both sides, and the lack of progress in Geneva is threatening the collapse of the deal and the return to the ground zero. Endit